![Red Grant by © George Almond [courtesy of www.007magazine.com]](https://literary007.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/1148830_10151614947083106_339189802_n.jpg?w=220&h=126&crop=1)
It’s no accident that the best novels often have the best villains, and in Ian Fleming’s canon, this is no different. They lay bare humanity’s worst traits and push Bond’s resourcefulness to the nth degree. Only the greatest authors make the pulses of all of us beat faster, and they do this by marrying the…
Article by F. L. Toth Ian Fleming was often criticized, sometimes rightly, for getting the facts wrong about the things for which he is best known, such as fine food, guns, wine, and bath products of all things. He seems, in fact, to have been the most annoying of dilettantes: the man who learns just…
Noel Coward was one of the 20th Century’s greatest artist’s in every sense of the word. He was also one of Ian Fleming’s closest friends and each played an important role in each other’s lives. While outwardly different in many ways, they shared much in common and such as a love of Empire, music, art,…
In 1952, Ian Fleming penned the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, at Goldeneye, his winter home in Jamaica. Each successive Bond novel was written at Goldeneye, and several of the most memorable and exciting novels were set in Jamaica. 2018 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming’s fifth James Bond novel, Dr No, (1958)…
Article by James Abbott “No, no, no, a thousand times, no.” – Noel Coward, on being asked to play Dr. No in the film version of Ian Fleming’s novel. Author Ian Fleming (1908-1964) was often very upfront about his inspirations when writing the James Bond thrillers. Such names as John Buchan (1875-1940), Sapper (1888-1937), and…
Article by David Craggs. As a sexagenarian espionage aficionado who had first-hand experience of the 1960s, this particular ‘Field Agent’ has long been as obsessed with the literary phenomena brought about by ‘Bond Mania’. As with most things ‘60s, you had to have been there to appreciate it. The absolute tsunami of literary spies that…
Here is something to brighten up your day. Gerry Wadsworth is back with a striking homage to Dr. No! The Back Story After reading Dr. No several times, I realized that there was no way I could paint anything that would compete with the scene in the movie where a gorgeous Ursula Andress rises from…
On July 4,1952, Ian Fleming wrote ‘Pleasure Islands?’ for The Spectator shortly after completing the draft of Casino Royale, in which he discusses race relations in Jamaica. Article by Revelator; first published here. There are several notable things about this article, starting with the date. Perhaps it’s true that “after forty it is difficult to start a new life,”…
The 3rd annual Whitstable Literary Festival in Kent this year, took on a spy theme and in particular Ian Fleming and his many Kent connections. Fans of the genre were delighted to witness some of the best names in the literary espionage trade, including many who we have interviewed in the past such as Matthew Parker,…
By Michael May It’s easy to see why Ian Fleming had a hard time with self-righteous people. Anyone with the impulse to overthrow the Seven Deadly Sins with his own set of Deadlier ones clearly has a personal stake in seeing the original list replaced. Fleming admitted to struggling with Sloth, but even a shallow…
On this day in 2000, the writer and actor Mark Burgess performed a one man show about James Bond’s creator Ian Fleming in Brighton called ‘Fleming’s Bond’. It was well received and toured the UK between 2001 ans 2003, but Mr. Burgess decided to give up acting to concentrate on writing and the play was retired.…
Article by Craig Arthur with permission, originally published in 2007 James Bond was not the first fictional secret agent with a liking for martinis. W. Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden also drank them. “I move with the times,” Ashenden explains in Maugham’s story ‘His Excellency’. “To drink a glass of sherry when you can get a dry…
Additional quotes by Michael May; Illustrations ©George Almond where indicated – Courtesy of http://www.007magazine.com With each new James Bond film (including the upcoming SPECTRE) there is always speculation about how much source material is left to use. In some cases, merely the title of one of Fleming’s books was used, with the original story left…
This week we welcome Nicholas Anderson in from the cold. Nicholas (his nom de plume of course) is a 19-year veteran of the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service (known also as MI6). In 2002-2007 he was recalled a second time to active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is now retired and resides in the French…
1. What is your favorite Chopping cover and why? That’s a tough decision, but I think it has to be From Russia With Love. The flower motif that he used on all the covers makes most sense to me with that one and I love the juxtaposition between that and the gun. The Spy Who…
Article by Revelator Doctor No is definitely one of the better Fleming novels. The novel is divisive only because it caused an idiot at the New Statesman named Paul Johnson to write an article accusing Fleming of “sex, snobbery, and sadism,” a phrase still used by lazy journalists. Johnson went on to attack The Beatles with equal viciousness…
1. What is your favorite chopping cover and why? My favorite cover by chopping has to be his first for Ian Fleming, “From Russia, With Love”. I genuinely love this cover. The combination of the revolver and the rose are symbolic of beauty and death, man and nature, and they give a tantalizing glimpse into the world…
Christopher Lee‘s association with Bond goes beyond Francisco Scaramanga from his role in The Man With The Golden Gun. Lee was in fact step-cousin to Ian Fleming and knew each other fairly well. His mother, Evelyn, then married Harcourt George St Croix Rose, a banker and uncle of Ian Fleming. Lee’s military past was just as…
Artistic Licence Renewed 